Wednesday, December 21: Scripture – Luke 2:8-12
8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
The request, “Be an angel,” is often a way of asking, “Would you do this for me?“ When a child is described as “such an angel,” it usually means s/he has a compliant nature. But these usages have nothing to do with the angels in the Christmas story who tell the unwed Mary she will give birth to the son of God (Lk. 2:16-55), persuade Joseph not to break his engagement to his scandalously pregnant fiancée (Mt. 1:18-25) and send shepherds from their hillside grazing grounds in search of Israel’s promised Messiah lying in a feeding trough for livestock (Lk. 2:8-12).
Our word “angel” comes from the Greek word for “messenger;” they are God’s emissaries. Note that the angels of the Christmas story are not described as having halos or wings. The author of Hebrews tells us that angels may cross our paths without us recognizing them as such (Heb. 13:2) It is not the appearance of angels that is important; it is the message they bring on which we are meant to focus.
Faith would be so easy (we tell ourselves) if Gabriel, complete with halo and nametag, appeared in a blaze of glory, accompanied by a winged angelic army. Instead, we must be on the lookout for messengers hiding in plain sight. We must refuse to see those who differ with us or who are different from us as the enemy and, instead, engage with them as someone who might just be an angel hiding in plain sight.
And we are called to embrace the opportunities we are given to be God’s emissaries. Can we stand with those who are oppressed by systems that benefit us? Can we, in the spirit of Don Quixote, envision life as it should be even as we live in the world as it is? Can we be the word of hope someone in the depths of despair needs to hear? Can we “be an angel”?
Prayer: God of the faithful and fearful, God of the honorable and humble, God of the poor and powerless, help us to look for Your angels hiding in plain sight and help us to be angels to those whose burdens we can lighten. Amen.
Rev. Jim Fatzinger